by Gopher 10 Replies latest social current
She wrote "Awakening of A Jehovah's Witness".
The radio network which broadcasted the interview with her: http://www.kingdomkeys.org/
Her book is available at www.amazon.com and www.bn.com.
Her website is http://www.dianewilson.net. (You can also order the book from Diane's interesting web site.)
Edited by - Gopher on 4 August 2002 22:9:24
Darn! By the time it loaded, it was over.
I read her book. Pretty good, but her memory fails her in some areas. I guess that is to be expected though. Some things she says are foreign to me, but her experience is her own, not mine.
Thanks Gopher,
I heard most of it. Diane's Website is:
I see that Jerry Bergman gave a hearty endorsement of her book and in his customary modesty, left this little gem:
Jerry Bergman, Ph.D., MSBS, L.P.C.C.
America's leading expert on the psychology of Jehovah's Witnesses
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Farkel
What've you got against Jerry Bergman?
Mr. Bergman is often referred to as "Dr. Jerry Bergman" or "Jerry Bergman, Ph.D." Mr. Bergman was brought up as a Jehovah's Witness but seemingly could not abide by its standards. He has now made it his life's work to write rather long and shallow "scholarly" treatises concerning Jehovah's Witnesses and various topics. While it is true that Mr. Bergman holds a doctorate in some type of discipline, possibly educational psychology (at least that is as specific as I could discern), he has had quite a few problems in his academic life. He now teaches at some small technical school named "Northwest Technical College." One fact that he never seems to mention about himself is his troubles with the academic world and his peers. He previously was denied tenure from Bowling Green State University for reasons that included his ethics, teaching, quality of publications and relevance of publications to his teaching. Interestingly enough, he sued the University claiming that he was discriminated against due to his failure to obtain tenure. He has stated that the reason for his failure was attributable to academic discrimination concerning his ardent creationist teachings. The court did not agree with him
I have known Diane Wilson for many years, and have seen what she describes in her book. She is completely accurate in her accounting of the events that occured in and around her congregation. I know. I was there. She has not exaggerated or twisted the stories for the benefit of a good read. Everyone has slightly different experiences in and around the halls, and this is a true testimony of her life. I have personally seen and heard stories from around the country, and as much as each congregation has its own personality, I think the things she describes happen all over to varying degrees. Good for her that she has emerged from this a stronger person. There are so many books out there that talk about the doctrines, and why those are wrong; it is good to read a book that approaches the subject from a personal point of view , delving into the emotional trauma caused by the rules and regulations passed down from people who long ago left the real world and have no clue what they are making decisions on or the impact of their majority vote. I think that everyone can relate something from her story to their personal experiences.
Dia
See this url. Look especially at larc's analasys of bergman. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.asp?id=31682&site=3
SS
freedom96,
I appreciate you sharing that with us. I heard more than half of her interview, and she came across as centered, reasoned and balanced. For me, that adds a lot of credibility to her book. Although I thought the Christian interviewer on that Christian channel was a bit too eager to try to get her to dish out some dirt on the WTS so he could pass his own judgments on them. He was anything BUT unbiased.
She handled herself very well, and I'm glad she's come forward. We need more books from women on this subject, since women are treated like dirtbags in WatchtowerLand.
Farkel
Edited by - Farkel on 6 August 2002 19:44:58
The thing that stood out to me as inaccurate, for an elder's wife especially, was when she suddenly discovered the change in one of the books (Man's Salvation maybe) that "we weren't told about". I remember that situation, and we had a paragraph in the KM that year, to paste onto the page, to correct something they changed.
Her accounting of it was that we were not informed of the change, it just was changed in the newer books. (something about the identity of the sower)
Regarding Dr. Jerry Bergman...
You say he has written "...long and shallow 'scholarly' treastises..."
You mean like his book, "Jehovah's Witnesses and the Problem of Mental Illness"?
To quote you, he was "...brought up as a Jehovah's Witness but seemingly could not abide by its standards."
Is this supposed to be a negative comment about him?
Edited by - Dia on 15 August 2002 7:13:16
